A Bangladeshi man has died in Gambia marking the first fatality from COVID-19 in the West African nation, said the Gambian health ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said that the victim in his 70s came to the country from Senegal on Mar 13 and got sick.

He was referred to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul when he fell ill.

The man died in the ambulance before arrival in the hospital on March 20 (Friday), the ministry said.

The sample was sent to the Medical Research Council and the results came out to be coronavirus positive on Sunday, it added.

The ministry also informed this in a message on Twitter on Monday.

The tweet reads: “Public is hereby inform that a man in his 70s from Bangladesh tested positive of #COVID19. He came to #Gambia from Senegal on 13/3/20, got sick and was referred to EFSTH but passed away in ambulance before arrival on 20/3/20. Sample was send to MRC and confirmed positive today.”

Quoting the country’s Health Minister Amadou Lamin Samateh, the Freedom Newspaper, an online news publisher in the Gambia, reported that the Bangladeshi was the second coronavirus case recorded there.

He was a visiting ‘marabout’ or Muslim Holy Man’, to Gambia, it reported.

He had held lecture sessions with Gambians during his trip and stayed at the “Marakash center in Bundung” where he engaged in preaching and interacted with a number of people, the newspaper said, citing the minister.

He was said to have travelled from six other countries, where he was carrying out similar preaching, the minister added, according to the report.